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By: Raymond RonamaiWednesday, August 01, 2007 Popular actor Sanjay Dutt was sentenced to six years vigorous imprisonment by a special court yesterday, in connection to the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, which killed more than 250 civilians. The long-awaited verdict has shocked Bollywood like never before. People in the film industry are of the opinion that the punishment meted to the actor is too harsh, arguing that he is a good human being and had served in jail for 16 months earlier.

"I think whatever punishment has been meted out to him, it far exceeds the error committed by him. People have forgotten the circumstances under which the error was committed. People seemed to have forgotten the good work done by the actor, especially in the aftermath of the 1993 blasts when he picked up the wounded from the streets and took them to hospital. You know when there is some kind of catastrophe, sometimes in such a situation, someone does wrong. But my god, what a punishment," said yesteryears actress Saira Banu.

"He must have known that he will have to suffer a little more and he has decided to accept it with grace," said actress Kiron Kher. She also added that the punishment is too harsh, as he has suffered for 14 long years.

Various film personalities like actors Shatrughan Sinha and Suniel Shetty, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, director Madhur Bhandarkar and others have expressed their sympathy for Sanjay Dutt in the open. They are of the opinion that the law has been harsh on him because of his celebrity status.

However, the court feels that possessing 9 mm pistol and lethal weapon like AK-56 rifle is a serious offense.

All hope is not lost for the actor and his fans because plans are on to approach the Supreme Court.